


Redemption

by karedeviltrash



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, I Don't Even Know, Possible Scenario, Post-Season/Series 02 Finale, Romance, What Was I Thinking?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-06-10 12:48:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6957157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karedeviltrash/pseuds/karedeviltrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'I have something...' he repeated, firmly. '... that I need you to see.' Post-episode 13 possible scenario.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is the first time I ever attempt to write a story. I've been in tons of fandoms - still am in some - but the only time I felt the urge to write something was with Daredevil. Weird. Plus, that season 2 ending, seriously, I needed to read something that started from there. I'm still not sure if I'll write a sequence or a series of possible scenarios.
> 
> FYI, english is not my first language and this story wasn't beta-d. So bear with me. And please, feel free to point any mistakes.
> 
> I'm Karedevil trash. Guilty, your honor.

Karen arrived at the office fifteen minutes earlier than the scheduled time. It would not have taken her much to get there, anyway; not from where she was when he had called and given how needy she was to be doing something, _anything_ _else_ than going home and drinking alone on Christmas Eve, after debating for a few seconds about whether or not to accept his call, she decided that avoiding it would be worse. Now she wasn't so sure anymore.

_''Could you... erm... meet me at the office in one hour?''_

_She went silent for a few seconds, not knowing what to answer exactly. Could it be as short as 'no' or a lie like 'I already have plans', to which she knew he would know she hadn't?_

_''Karen, you there? Karen?'' he sounded worried._

_''Hm, yeah, sure.'' Her answer had been almost standard and came out before she could elaborate anything more appropriate than that_.

Which was why, when she entered the office, she chuckled at the irony of the situation. _Coming here to talk to the same person who caused your loneliness... Brilliant, Karen._ The conflicted feelings were starting to get on her nerves. She felt instant regret and sadness. Regret for accepting Matt's request; sadness for the way things ended and how strange it felt to be there. Except for her table, a lamp and a few chairs, the office was empty, cold and grey. She didn't recognize it.

She looked out the window at the almost deserted street. _Why on earth would he want to meet me at this hour? And today, of all days?_ Unintentionally, she started to think about how, if things were still okay, she'd probably be celebrating this date. Maybe with Foggy's family, like last year, when he and Matt had included her, after realizing she wouldn't have anywhere else to go, like Matt hadn't, before knowing Foggy. This year, she had declined Foggy's invitation four days before. It hadn't felt right. Or maybe, she thought, she would be celebrating it alone with Matt. _Damn it, just don't go there._

She heard the door opening and turned around to see Matt entering the office, carrying a bag. She noticed he had fresh bruises on his face, but forced herself to not care. Not anymore. He paused briefly at the door and said: ''Thanks for meeting me.''

''What am I doing here, Matt?'' Karen asked softly.

''I have something...'' he started to open the bag and she tried to stop him.

''No, I don't wanna...'' _Is he going to give me a gift?_

''I have something...'' he repeated, firmly. ''... that I need you to see.''

Karen sighed, resignated. Whatever it was, he couldn't seem to be able to wait any longer.

He waited a few seconds, his heavy breathing filling the unusual silence, but she didn't protest again, so he took a mask from inside the bag. It took her half a second to recognize it. She looked at him. _Why does he have it? Did he find it? Does he know who Daredevil is? Wait, no, he... how..._ She felt the engines in her head turning, the conclusion happening before he even opened his mouth.

''I'm Daredevil.''

Karen felt her stomach drop and her heart skip a beat. This cannot be happening. She sighed again. So that's the truth. She felt like running away, she felt like punching him for lying to her, but at the same time, she needed tangible proof.

''Wh... what? What are you even saying? How...'' _Deep down you know he's telling the truth._

''I'm Daredevil.'' Matt repeated, still holding the mask.

Karen heard the words again but somehow her brain was working too slow to process them. But he's blind, how can he manage to do what she witnessed him doing? What the papers reported? What people had said? _Oh, yeah, his eyes were covered, remember?_

She looked back at the mask. Just a few nights ago she saw Daredevil wearing it and she had touched him. He had touched her, too. Tenderly. A complete stranger who seemed to care whether she was hurt or not, in a room with a dozen other people. She saw _him_? Was it _him_? She took a step forward and took the mask from his hands, feeling the rough material, its weight. She took off his glasses and lifted the mask.

''Karen... don't...'' Matt murmured, but didn't make a move to stop her.

''I need to see it.'' She whispered, more to herself than to him.

He lifted both of his hands and put the mask on. She took his right hand and put in on her cheek, the way Daredevil - _Matt?_ \- had touched her, had caressed her face, now that she remembered it correctly. Clearly. She lifted her right hand, put it under his jacket to touch his chest and felt a bandage where she had seen Daredevil bleeding.

''Oh, my God'' she whispered, now fully convinced. ''It can't be'' she lifted her eyes and looked at him again, his lips, his chin. ''I can't be here.'' She said, taking a step back, shaking her head, her eyes closed. ''I'm sorry.'' She was breathing fast. ''I can't be here. I need to go.'' She started to make her way to the door. Matt took off the mask and followed her.

''Not you too.'' he whispered, in panic. ''Karen, please, I need to talk to you, explain everything...'' He reached out for her.

''No, I can't.'' She was already opening the door, her hand on the door handle. Matt put his hand over hers, to stop her from going forward and stood right behind her. ''Matt, please, just let me go, I need to not be here, with you, whoever you are...'' she whispered the last words. She was covering her mouth and her eyes were closed; she was trying, unsuccessfully, to control her breathing.

Matt lifted a shaky hand to her shoulder and touched it. She was trembling too. ''You know who I am. Please, just hear me out,'' he murmured. ''Please, Karen.'' He begged again and she finally agreed and closed the door.

He stepped back, giving her room to breathe. He could hear her heart beating loud and fast.

She looked at him and felt like screaming, but, again, _you agreed on coming here, you wanted the truth, didn't you?_

''Okay, so explain. Because I seriously need it.'' She said.

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the kudos and reviews. <3
> 
> I confess I didn't read the comics, so almost everything I know about Daredevil comes from either watching the show or from tumblr posts.

_''Okay, so explain. Because I seriously need it''. She said._

Karen sat in one of the chairs, her elbows on her knees, her head in her hands. Matt leaned at her old desk, his arms folded, without his glasses, head down, waiting for a signal, waiting for her breathing to become regular and her heartbeat to stabilize. They went silent for several minutes. Matt didn't want to startle her. He knew she was rethinking everything that happened since the day they met and also thinking about what he had just told her.

''Why?'' she asked, whispered. ''Why do you do it?''

''Because I needed to do something to help.'' Matt answered in a heartbeat.

''You already do something, or at least did, as a lawyer.'' She kept her head down.

''No, the law only takes us to a certain point...''

''So you just punch people to get results?'' She interrupted him.

''Karen, you don't understand what is going on in this city...''

''Then help me understand, Matt. Because I fail to see the difference between Frank and you at this point.''

''I never killed anyone.''

''I saw a man being thrown out of the roof the other night. He surely is dead by now. That was you, fighting him on that roof, wasn't it?''

''He was... he can't...'' Matt shook his head. He needed to find a pace in which she would understand his reasons. ''That man you saw, Nobu, he is a ninja, and he cannot die, not the way we would recognize as dying. I saw him on fire once and I thought he had died and then suddenly he was back on his feet, alive. It's part of why I didn't tell you, it's as crazy as I know it sounds.'' He said, firmly.

Karen doubted any explanation would suffice. What happened with them both, with him and Foggy and with the firm still brought her pain and the reason to that was standing in front of her, talking about ninjas who couldn't die.

She got up and started pacing.

''When we met, you told me you went blind as a kid, a car accident...''

''That's what happened, yes, I pushed an old man out of the way of being hit by a car, a truck that was carrying chemicals swerved, lost control and I ended up losing my sight due to the chemicals that leaked and got into my eyes...'' he paused. She still wouldn't look at him. ''But that's not the whole truth, not even my dad knew at the time.''

''Whole truth?'' She stopped pacing and look at his direction, but kept her eyes down, avoiding eye contact.

''I never told him, he was already worried about me as it is, but... a few days later I woke up and I could see. Not in the traditional way, like you and Foggy can, but more like... I could see shapes, silhouettes, people moving, but as if everything was on fire. And then as the days went by I started to notice more things...'' she huffed and pursed her lips. He did a brief pause and went on. ''I know that you're wearing a dress...'' she finally looked at him, her eyes wide. ''...that your hair is down, that you're clenching your fists...'' he added. ''I know your heartbeat was steady until a few minutes ago and now it's going faster the more I speak.''

''What are you even saying? You can hear my heartbeat? And see me?'' _All this time?_ she couldn't believe it. _Do his lies ever end?_

''No, not the way you think, like I said it's more like... I sense things rather than actually see them and the shapes and silhouettes, I can read their temperature, feel their vibrations, almost like an infrared image, the air changing as they move around; the chemicals took my sight but enhanced my other senses and that's how I can fight the way you saw me fighting, the way I know where to kick and how and when to avoid a punch. Most of the times.''

''Matt, you're a lawyer, how come you know how to fight? Who taught you...''

''Stick. That old man that was in my appartment when you... came over'' _When Elektra was there_ , he thought. ''He got to me after my dad died, at the orphanage, and he trained me...''

''I don't... he trained you? Why? What for? He trained _her_ too? That's why she was there?'' Karen's voice was filled with pain.

_Yeah, she wouldn't need help remembering that day_ , Matt thought.

''He trained both of us, separately, when we were kids. At that time I needed a father figure and he taught me how to fight, how to deal with my blindness and to turn it into my advantage. We spent so much time together I started to consider him like a second father to me, but when he felt I was too attached, he left and I only saw him again last year, when he needed me.'' He paused. ''That day you met him, he was there because that woman, Elektra, almost died the night before and he knew how to heal her.'' He explained.

''How did you know her?'' Karen asked, her voice low.

He sighed. ''She and I met in college and it was a brief romance that burned fast; she left a trail of destruction in my life and I didn't want to feel that way ever again.'' he said, shaking his head. Thinking about Elektra still hurt.

''So what happened, then?''

''One night I got home and she was there, she found me and asked for my help. I wasn't gonna help her, I told her to leave, but then I came to know the Yakuza never really left and we were both fighting them, trying to take them once and for all. In the end she...'' he lowered his head. ''She sacrificed herself to save me.''

Karen didn't know what to say. The woman she saw in his bed had been trained like him, she knew how to fight too and she had died to save him? _It sure as hell feels like I'm seeing myself from above_ , she thought. _It's like a Pandora's box had been opened and I'm looking inside it but nothing is recognizable to me_.

Matt's voice brought her back to reality.

''What is funny is that my dad never wanted any of this for me, he threw punches for a living and he wanted me to study and become something else, to not become him.'' he paused. ''But I just... I _cannot_ know the things I know, the things I can hear happening around me and just stay home and call the police knowing that the thief, or murderer, or rapist will be long gone when they get there, and will be back on the streets the morning after to do the same thing again.''

Karen listened to Matt and tried to see things from his point of view. She could understand his reasons, of course, to be practicing vigilante justice, if he felt he could help, having felt that herself once or twice. She just couldn't accept the fact it all reached the breaking point and destroyed everything she hold onto so dearly, simply because he didn't trust his friends with his secret.

''Does Foggy know?'' she asked, though she kind of guessed the answer.

''He... found me one day. I was unconscious in my appartment and he helped me, more than once, actually.'' Matt lowered his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed. ''I made him promise not to tell you. Against his will, he's been covering for me ever since.''

She sighed. ''So that time you guys had a big fight, was it because he had found out?''

''Yes.''

''And every time I asked him about you and he said you were taking a sick day, you were recovering from some fight in some alley...'' It still sounded unbelievable.

''Yeah. But he was never happy about this and tried to talk me out of it, but I can't, it's just who I am, doing _this_...'' he pointed at the mask ''...is part of who I _am_ , Karen'' He needed her to understand his actions and his choices.

''So that woman, she wasn't...'' she felt strangely ashamed for asking. But she needed the confirmation, anything to prove the last few months have not been a lie, _in the middle of everything he just told me,_ she thought, _something must have been real._

He shook his head. ''She and I were only working together. I wouldn't... I would never...'' he sighed. ''You and I, what we had, that was real, Karen. Okay?''

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, but I couldn't remember if Karen knew about the Yakuza back in season 1, so let's just pretend here that she did know. And also, I felt like the whole Chaste and Black Sky stories wouldn't make a difference for Karen's understanding so I didn't include them.
> 
> Please, review and correct me if my english skills are worse than my writing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end. I hope the ones who ckicked on *kudos* and reviewed still consider it the same.
> 
> I really really enjoyed writing this story and I hope you guys like it as much as I do.

Karen went silent for a few minutes. Had it been real? For her, it always has been. When they first met, she felt this instant attraction for him, but tried to supress it, for he was her boss and he always seemed to keep her at arm's length. _Maybe that was the reason_ , she thought. _He didn't want me to know the truth_.

She felt like smiling at the irony. _I fell for both sides of the same man._ She realized it was the first time she even admited to herself that the thought of being in some level in love with Daredevil, or the idea of him, was real. Subconsciously, it had occured to her once or twice and she had always felt silly for how naive it was. _One side being a masked vigilante who saved me not once, but twice; and the other being this guy in his dark suit, whom, only a few weeks ago I invited to my house; one I knew was keeping the neighborhood safe at night and the other was bringing justice for those who otherwise couldn't afford it, smiling at me, having lunch with me, kissing me, making jokes with Foggy; a man with a 9 to 5 job, a normal life, a routine._

''Karen, I'm so sorry for not telling you sooner.'' his low voice broke the silence. ''Though coming clean about something like this is difficult, the past few months made it all even harder. When Elektra showed up, asking for my help, it was in the middle of Frank Castle's case and things started to get even more complicated everywhere...''

''So all the times you were absent, you were with her...'' she interrupted, unable to not feel a pang of jealousy. ''Fighting for the city.'' _But not for us_.

''Yes.'' he confessed, head down. ''I know I should have known how to deal with it better and I'm aware I let you and Foggy down, multiple times, but both sides of my life were colliding and ruining faster and faster and I wasn't prepared for any of that.'' He added.

''I wish you'd trusted me.'' She confessed, a little angry.

''I do trust you, Karen.'' he lifted his head.

''But not with this?'' She asked, exasperated.

''I thought I was protecting you. Keeping you in the dark has been my way of making sure you were safe. I can see how foolish and useless it was, given what happened, but you gotta believe me...''

She interrupted him. ''And now, what's changed? Now you see that I wouldn't be safe anyway and you need me by your side because everybody else is gone, so you finally decided to tell me?'' She hated herself for asking, but she couldn't keep her angry at bay for much time these days.

Matt paused before answering. He didn't expect her to accept his apologies so easily, being Karen so stubborn, curious and adamant about her beliefs and her need to get to the bottom of things, no matter what, he realized, _it was one of the reasons I fell for her_.

''What's changed is that I know that none of this matters if I'm alone. If I'm not protecting the city not only for strangers but also for the people I care about, with them by my side to share it and celebrate it, then it's not worth it. Foggy and I are no longer partners and I don't even know if our friendship will ever be the same, but you...'' he paused and sighed. ''I wanted to be the one to tell you. I didn't want to run amok and do something foolish, getting killed or arrested, so that you would end up finding out through the news that Daredevil, the man you once admired, is me.'' He confessed. ''I don't think we would ever come back from that.'' _If we even come back from this_ , he thought.

Karen couldn't take her eyes off of him. She felt like she was seeing him for the first time. He seemed so honest and so lost. Wasn't she who, in this same room, all of those months ago, said she would take Daredevil over Fisk any day? She was, unbeknownst to her at the time, choosing Matt, too. In the end, he did tell her, explained himself, let her in.

''May I...'' she gulped. ''May I see them?'' she asked, timidly.

''I'm sorry?'' Matt asked, his brow frowned at the sudden change in her tone.

''Your scars. May I see them?'' she looked at him, almost afraid of his answer.

He didn't even hesitate. He took off his jacket, opened his tie and his shirt and took it all off. Her breathing was fast and shallow. She approached him. ''Oh, my God.'' she whispered.

He had so many scars, big ones, small ones, all over his arms and chest. On his back, too. A few bruises, the bandage she had felt earlier was big. Some of the scars seemed to have been seriously deep cuts. She lifted her right hand and almost touched a big scar on his chest. _I can't believe this is real_ , she thought. ''Who helped you? Who patched you up?'' she asked, her voice low. ''Foggy?''

He shook his head. ''One night after a really ugly fight, a nurse found me, her name is Claire, she took me out of a dumpster.'' he answered, his voice low. Karen's eyes went wide.

''A dumpster?'' Her voice was pained.

''She patched me up that night and almost everytime ever since. She's very vocal about this routine, I gotta tell you,'' he chuckled. ''She literally saved my life. This one,'' he pointed at the right side of his belly. ''This was Nobu's doing. This one was Fisk's.'' he pointed at another scar.

Karen then started to realize how dangerous Daredevil's nightly adventures - _Matt's_ \- were. Not knowing his real identity made everything sort of untouchable, distant, anonymous, heroic. But it had been Matt this whole time, he was the one out there, risking his life, night after night. She had told him she wasn't an idiot, but she felt like one, at that moment, for having missed the signs. Of course she would have to have gotten closer to him to actually see something beyond what he allowed her to. _Maybe that was also the reason he said no when I invited him in_ , she thought.

''What are you thinking, Karen?'' he whispered, after she didn't answer or comment anything else. He was feeling more exposed than ever, now, standing in front of her, without his shirt, letting her see his battle scars. _There is no turning back from this_ , he thought.

''That now I understand why you wouldn't tell me sooner, the danger you're constantly in'', she lowered her head, incapable of looking at his scarred body anymore. Matt felt she was trying to hold back something, but in the end she seemed to not be able to. ''And I also understand why didn't come up when I said you could.'' she added, a sad but firm voice. ''Your scars, it would have drawn unnecessary attention, you would have either lied or really explained how you got them and that would have killed the mood, so...'' she said, a sardonic voice.

''Karen...'' he lifted a hand and almost touched her arm. She catched the movement and closed her eyes.

''No, Matt, it's fine, I get it. It was better the way it was, I mean, I guess in the end we would have ended up the same way.'' she said, still looking down.

''Don't do that. Don't doubt everything I ever said to you. What I said that night, I meant it, it was perfect, you were perfect, and I wanted to keep that night the way it was. I wouldn't change anything.'' He wanted so badly to touch her, but he knew it was better not to. ''I guess what I said about always bringing disasters to the best things in my life is also true.'' he confessed.

She didn't say anything, but stepped back and walked till she was facing the window again.

Matt turned around, picked up his shirt, put it back on and turned around to face her. He felt incredibly relieved for letting it all out. She would, of course, take her time understanding, accepting and maybe forgiving him for the last weeks, maybe ever since they first met.

''Was that how you knew I wasn't lying when we met? When I said I hadn't killed Daniel Fisher?'' she asked, her voice low, still facing the window. ''My heartbeat?''

''Yes.''

She nodded, turned around and looked at him. ''I promise I'll keep your secret. Thank you for telling me.''

He didn't move. ''I know you will.''

Neither did she. ''I never had the chance to thank Daredevil for saving my life twice.''

''Karen, you don't ever have to.'' he whispered, feeling his face burn, for some reason. He never expected this.

''I do. I want to.'' she whispered and walked back to him. She studied his face, the face she used to stare at when he wasn't aware, the face that now held cuts and bruises that would heal within a few days, only to be replaced by new ones. She touched his face and brought it closer to her own. ''You saved me in ways you'll ever know,'' she whispered against his lips and kissed him. Matt could no longer hold back and kissed her back, holding her tight. The kiss was different from all of their previous ones and held everything they wanted to say to each other but never had the chance. Too much was yet to be said, explained, understood and forgiven.

They kissed passionately, both of them forgetting they were in the middle of an empty office, on Christmas Eve, that he was Daredevil, that they had broken up and now were trying to mend things again. When a horn honked on the street, he remembered where they were and broke the kiss slowly. Her hands were on his neck, his hands on her hips and their foreheads were touching. ''You're very welcome.'' he said, smiling softly.

''I could never ask you to quit being Daredevil. I _know_ this city needs you, Matt'' she said softly, her eyes closed. ''But I need some time, okay? Can you give me that?''

''Anything you need.'' He took her right hand and put it over his chest, above his fast beating heart. ''You know where to find me.''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took the liberty of quoting Charlie Cox. I don't think he would mind, being the captain of the ship and all...
> 
> I'm hoping so much for a season 3. It would be a major kick in our collective asses that finale + not having anything else to fangirl over.
> 
> Also, I don't think Karen would (or can) be angry at Matt for too long, in the show, I mean. I guess she will understand and act fast enough, for our ship's sake.
> 
> In chapter 1 I briefly mentioned Nobu and I didn't address this issue again, not completely, I know, but I think in another opportunity he would discuss it with her.
> 
> Please, review.

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts?


End file.
